Details

LOT 0362

Romanian Orthodox Royal Wooden Doors with Annunciation Scene

CIRCA 1750 A.D.

52 x 13 3/8 in (13.8 kg total, 132 x 34 cm each).

Each door a single board with graduated scalloped upper edge, horizontal wooden bars to the reverse, hand-forged iron hinge knuckles and D-section leader to left door; primed with tempera on both faces and painted on the obverse, each with a bottle-green field, blue-grey frontage with vermillion upper storey and gilt roof; Left Door: portion of city wall with tall, narrow building behind, balcony at the upper level with King David standing holding an unfurled scroll, wearing a gilt crown, vermillion tunic and blue mantle; before the wall a winged angel Gabriel holding a frond, wearing a draped mantle over ankle-length chiton and sandals; above, red painted legend 'BOUNA'; to the right edge, a D-section leader painted with red, white and blue diagonal stripes; Right Door: portion of city wall with tall, narrow building behind, balcony at the upper level with King Solomon standing holding a scroll and wearing a gilt crown, similar tunic and mantle to the other; dove descending towards Mary standing before the wall in front of a cushioned throne, with gilt nimbus around her head; red painted legend 'V E S T I R E' above; rare. [2]

Provenance

Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector.

Accompanied by a copy of a Romanian export licence.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12466-229954.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Literature

Cf. Popescu, G.A., Cristiani d'Oriente, spiritualità, arte e potere nell'Europa Post-Bizantina, Milano, 1999, fig.69, for similar; cf. also Baboș, A., ’Royal Doors of Maramures beyond their appearances’ in Museikon, a journal of Religious Art and Culture, 6/2022, pp.263-294, for similar doors and discussion.

Footnotes

The 'royal doors' (Greek: Ωραία Πύλη) mark the entrance to the iconostasis (wooden screen hiding the altar) in an Eastern Orthodox church.